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Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants make a formidable team, enjoyed equally by
fans in New York and San Francisco as well as in countless places in between and
beyond.
The team itself is a potent mixture of the top modern jazz veterans of the Forties
and Fifties and more recently established stars of the Fifties.
Although modern jazz has only been with us since the early Forties, the standouts
of the era are already clearly indicated and I doubt whether further jazz history
will dull their lustre. A great jazz performance is always within a certain tradition
and a timeless thing regardless of the era in which it was played. Some critics
of jazz say that it may well be a transient thing and that we must wait centuries
to see if it survives with a validity like Bach and Beethoven have in their idiom.
Without going in to why I would disagree with this, I would say that the next two
centuries are likely to move twice as quickly in terms of cultural evolution as
the two centuries which preceded them and the position of all music, as we know
it, may be very different than its present one. All we can draw from in judging
the relative merits of a jazz performance is our listening experience within the
idiom. Louis Armstrong's recorded solos of thirty years ago are pure and powerful
statements today and, for the same reasons, Miles Davis' of three years ago will
be meaningful thirty years hence.
The Giants here present two different line-ups. Both include the expert rhythm combination
of Percy Heath and Kenny Clarke who, at this time, were co-members of the Modem
Jazz Quartet. Many Prestige sessions benefited from their complementary accompaniment.
Bags' Groove is Milt Jackson's minor blues which has become a jazz standard
at an early age through recordings by Milt himself, Jay + Kai, Bob Cooper and Bud
Shank, Bud Powell, Mat Mathews, Jack Millman, Virgil Gonsalves and Milt again with
the Modern Jazz Quartet. Here it is presented in two takes, only one of which was
issued before. The take that I describe is the latter as the other will be as new
to me as it is to you when I hear LP 7109.
Miles is the first soloist with Percy and Kenny backing him. This is the session
where Miles asked Monk to lay out during his (Miles) choruses. Monk, who comes to
play although he had practiced the idea of laying out himself long before this session,
was insulted by the request. After Miles' beautifully logical solo Milt plays a
forceful declarative one as Monk comps timidly at first for him. Thelonious' solo
follows and he tosses rhythmic figures around like someone bouncing a rubber ball
off a wall, but drops out again as Miles re-emerges to sum up in a model solo.
The session of June 29, 1954 found Heath, Clarke and Davis joined by
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Sonny Rollins and Horace Silver, two of the brightest and influential talents to
emerge in the Fifties. These were the first Davis-Rollins recordings since 1951
(Dig, Paper Moon on Prestige LP 7012) and include three Rollins originals
that have been much played by Davis quintet and other groups in the next three years.
Shelly Manne has recorded Doxy: Phil Woods and Gene Quill use it as their
theme.
Airegin is not a purified alcoholic beverage; it refers to a country in Africa
(spell it backwards). Miles and Sonny state the minor key theme against bass and
drums backing. Horace enters to "comp" for soloists Davis and Rollins who each blow
three thoughtful, swinging choruses. It is interesting to compare this version with
the one later recorded by Miles and John Coltrane (Prestige LP 7094).
Oleo is spiritually reminiscent of some of the things that Charlie Parker
and Miles used to do together but the form of the accompaniment is a varied one.
The theme is stated by Miles and Sonny with only Percy supporting them except on
the bridge where Kenny and Horace join in.
Miles opens the soloing with a puckish muted bit in front of bass and drums. Horace
is in evidence only on the bridge and this pattern is followed in Sonny's choruses.
After Horace's solo Miles returns for another stint with Percy backing him and the
full rhythm section heard again only on the bridge. Kenny stays aboard for the last
eight bars and then the line is played in the same manner as it was in the opening
chorus.
George Gershwin's But Not For Me is swung medium and firmly without neglecting
the feeling of romantic sadness. Two solos by Miles sandwich the improvisation of
Rollins and Silver. There are two takes presented here. As in the case of Bags'
Groove, my description is of the one originally issued.
Doxy, according to the dictionary, can be an opinion or a mistress. From
the funky character of the piece I would take it to be an opinion of a mistress.
Miles, Sonny and Horace know the "chick" quite well and she's down to earth it seems.
This is the type of number that critics call "thin thematic material" or some other
such hogwash because they have no "funk" on their shoes. The essence of jazz stares
them in the face and they can't see it.
This album is indicative of the prowess of Miles Davis and the rest of the Modern
Jazz Giants; a collection of their best for 1954. If you remember, 1954 was a very
good year for Giants.
notes by IRA GITLER
supervision by Bob Weinstock
recording by Van Gelder
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